(Even) Better Know a Blogger: The Collective Mind

Welcome to (Even) Better Know a Blogger week!  Each day this week, my goal is to publish an interview with a fellow blogger.  To be included, bloggers had to email me for a questionnaire, fill it out, and then email it back to me.  Simple!  I think many of us enjoyed getting to know fellow bloggers back when I ran a similar feature a number of years ago...and I'm happy to report that some of the same people that participated back then joined up this time around as well!  Let's get to it!


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1.       Your name (or alias if preferred): Greg Armentrout (I go by Greg A or GCA when blogging or commenting.)
2.       Your blog website:  https://thecollectivemind.blogspot.com/
3.       Your social media handle(s):  I am not actually on any form of social media.  I have no real use for Facebook and have only contemplated joining Twitter to expand my blog and trading audience, but have not been persuaded yet.  (Three readers under the age of 21 just passed out.)
4.       What are your favorite sport teams?  Baseball – Orioles and Nationals (I’d choose Baltimore between the two).  Football – Washington Redskins (toughest fandom next to Cleveland).  Hockey – Washington Capitals (Finally got a championship).  Have watched a few Wizards playoff games, but don’t follow (or completely understand) the sport.

5.       What kind of collector do you consider yourself to be (team collector, player collector, set collector, etc.).
All of the above.  I started in about 1978 collecting sets.  As I amassed extra cards, I found several players who I kinda liked and had more than one card of that wasn’t (yet) in a set, so I started a bunch of player collections.  Some of them are much higher priority than others.  They are a good way to collect cards from insert and obscure sets.  Added a few football and hockey guys later.
I also collect any and all Redskins, and (very casually) Capitals.  And I dabble in Moon/Space cards and some ‘70’s non-sport stuff too.
Why do you collect that way?  
Started out as an old school set builder, expanded into other things I like, but have never followed the hype.  Sometimes I think I’m the anti-collector, because I’m not big on rookies or shiny.  I don’t care about the “hot” players or prospects, and I like base cards just as much as hits.

6.       What is your favorite item in your collection?  Hard to narrow that down.  It’s either my player collection binders, or my T205 NY Giants.  The PCs are so diverse now since I’ve been at it for so long and usually add something to them from every show or dealer order.  The T205s are just cool and are way older than anything else I have.  Still sorta boggles my mind that I have some of those at all.

7.       If you could add any one card to your collection (that you don’t currently own), what card would it be and why?  
The T205 Christy Mathewson.  It may happen at the National this year if I find one in the price range I’m looking for.
The other answer might be the opposite end of the spectrum.  I’ve been looking for the 1987 Hygrade Dizzy Dean for months.  He seems to be a secret short print, but shouldn’t cost me over a dollar once he does turn up.  He would finish up that wacky little offbeat set.

8.       Thinking back to when you first started collecting, how have your habits changed (if at all)?  Any ideas why?
Most of it is just the progression of resources over time.  I’m older and can afford things that kids can’t.  (Plus having no real life otherwise lends itself to more cash toward cardboard😊)  So now I shop for things like 50’s and 60’s vintage stars and singles, T205’s, and higher end things like that.  Not to mention that the sheer volume of my collection has increased several hundred percent.
There are other “habit” things like double bagging cards in pages (don’t do that any more), or how I keep my want lists (written progressed to printed, which progressed to a web site).  That’s not really me, that’s technology.  Though like I said in #3, I haven’t taken advantage in the social media world.
I also used to always trade in person when I was young.  Now pretty much all of that is online.

9.       If an alien being came down from the stars and forced you to describe yourself using no more than three cards as talking points, how would you do it?
Well, if the alien wanted to know what people like, there are a few basic concepts that ring true for most of us.

a. We like the opposite sex.  (Well, these days that can get a lot more complicated, but that’s a whole separate discussion).  We like looking at other attractive people. 

b. We like heroes.  Sports and otherwise.  Those that do great things inspire us to do great things ourselves.  Or we just like to watch them and say “Wow!” when amazing stuff happens.

c. And we like history and nostalgia.  We learn from how things went before, and we remember what made us feel different ways back in our younger days. 

10.   If you could give any of the major sport card companies one piece of advice about something you’d like changed (or perhaps simply continued) what would it be?
I think it all comes down to simplifying.  I’m coming from an older perspective, so of course, I long for the past when things were simpler, and cards were in their prime.  The younger people want flashier and higher end cards, but the main audience is still guys 30-80 that have collected for years.  Targeting them would yield better results, I would think.
For me, there are products I’d have bought if they didn’t have SSPs, or exclusive rookies, or online only with a jacked-up price tag.  Topps doesn’t want to sell 1000 $10 boxes when they can sell 10 $1000 boxes instead.  But I think they would make more money with big base sets like the old Total, instead of things like the current version of that set.  I heard more positive reviews of the physical BUNT set, which had no gimmicks, just some parallels, and it was cheap.  They stopped making it.  Nobody seems to like the online sets, but they keep making more of them.  I don’t get it.
And I won’t rehash the exclusive contracts argument here, but that’s a big part of the problem too.  If Topps doesn’t want to make simple products, let Panini try it.  Hometown Heroes and Cooperstown were great, but lack of logos diluted them.  Topps does what their corporate suits want to do, and not what collectors like me have been supporting for decades.  Just simplify!

11.   Where do you live?  Near Frederick, Maryland.  An hour north of DC, and 20 minutes from Gettysburg, PA.
What is your favorite local food?  There isn’t really anything that’s unique to this region.  There are a lot of good seafood places nearby that serve Chesapeake Bay crabs, etc.  But you can get all the other types too.  Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Steak, Subs & Pizza, or just basic American diner food.

12.   If someone were to visit you, what place (within an hour of travel from your residence) would you suggest someone be sure to check out?
There’s DC, with all the historical sites, Gettysburg Battlefield (as well as Antietam locally), Annapolis, and Baltimore.

13.   What is your profession?  Tech support for the local school system.  It’s interesting how many of us bloggers and collectors are in the educational field.
How did you end up there? 
I actually got my first computer just as Windows was becoming a thing.  I read a couple different magazines about how to upgrade, enhance and use a PC and did it all as a hobby.  I had graduated from college in ’84 and couldn’t find film & video work.  I went to technical school (after an aborted attempt at the Army Reserve to facilitate similar training) and got my first job building computers in 1995.  I worked there for about 8½ years.  That company supplied the school system with machines, so I knew people in that organization.  I also had a relative who was a principal that put in a good word, so I made the transition in 2003.  Between jobs, I started collecting again since my hiatus that started in college.

14.   Do you have any hobbies besides card collecting?  I like old cars (mostly from the 50’s. I have a ’66 Ford that sits undriven for way too long) and I used to be into comics.  Both of those have been overtaken by cards in the last couple decades.  I don’t know who a lot of the comic heroes are these days – or at least the revamped origins, etc.  All my comics are from the late 70’s through the early 90’s.  (I was into comics during the junk wax era, so I missed that.)
I also play pool (two 8-ball teams, hope to start 9-ball again soon) every Tuesday night.  I’m a decent shot, but I don’t think I’ll ever progress too high in my skill rating.  I don’t take it that seriously.  I play to win, but I’m probably the least competitive guy in the room at any time.  It’s fun and I’ve met a lot of cool people.
I did play a couple different fantasy sports leagues for several years.  I’m down to only one simple football league this year.  I was in this insane 32 team NFL dynasty league that fielded a full defensive lineup as well as the usual offense.  They had annual free agent auctions, rookie draft, and player contracts.  I enjoyed dealing with all the players, but ultimately couldn’t get many people to make reasonable trades, and was in a division that I could never win, so I got out.
I follow the NFL because of fantasy, and I watch a lot of hockey. But as far as baseball, besides my hometown teams (who aren’t doing that well lately), I don’t really know the players that well.  I tend to follow the cards more than the actual sport.  I don’t keep up with the current “hype machine” players, but I do know which sets I like that have been issued in the last few years.  I think I like the designs, insert concepts, and card qualities much better than the players they portray.

15.   Tell me something interesting about yourself that hasn’t been covered in the first 14 questions! 
Besides my blog, my collecting “15 minutes of fame” may have been several years ago when the concept of “Bipping” was born.  For those that don’t know, it’s where you receive a large number of the same card (usually junk wax era) in a trade package as a goof.  You have been officially “Bipped”.  I was the original Bipping victim.  I bought a package of 2008 Upper Deck from Wal-Mart that had been unwrapped and refilled with 1994 Upper Deck cards including several copies of Bip Roberts.  I guest blogged about it when I was first starting to read card blogs.  I wrote that as I opened the bonus insert pack…”Ugh! More Bips!”  The name caught on from there.
My T205 Giants collection (which is getting a lot more attention in this interview than I’ve been giving it lately) was inspired by an actual 11” x 24” framed team photo that was originally hanging in my father’s hunting cabin.  The reprint sets I bought after researching the players in the picture inspired me to get back into collecting.  And like I mentioned, 15 years later, I have most of the real cards.

Many thanks to Greg for participating in my (Even) Better Know a Blogger series.  As always, I greatly enjoyed the interview!  I wasn't aware of Greg's T205 collection so I learned a lot from what he had to say.  As someone that collects original vintage Allen & Ginter cards, I definitely know the allure of the super old cardboard.

I think that Greg also nailed it on the head during his answer of what baseball card companies could do to better serve the average customer.  I get that the big sexy $1000 packs and boxes are the ones that probably bring in lots of video views and page hits but for every outrageously priced item out there there are also a few hundred "regular" collectors who would like some sort of nice, affordable base set.  

Finally, I now know the "origin story" of Bipping!  

Many thanks for a great interview, Greg!  If anyone else would like to take part in my (Even) Better Know a Blogger series this is the last call!  Shoot me an email and I'll send the questionnaire your way.